


Danganronpa: Fort Zetsubou

by Alice_h



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-03-03 14:36:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13343283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alice_h/pseuds/Alice_h
Summary: A new killing game set in the Danganronpa Universe. Follow Hiroko Shizuma, the Ultimate Racing Driver, as she tries to overcome betrayal, distrust and the sadistic Monokuma





	1. Standing on the Shore of Despair

**Part 1**

_Beep beep beep._

_Beep beep beep._

Huh? An alarm? I don’t...where am I?

I opened my eyes to find myself lying fully clothed on a bed in a room I’d never seen before. It was…ugh, I couldn’t concentrate with the noise, so I looked over to my right-hand side, the source of the racket, and silenced an unfamiliar alarm clock. It was like none I’d ever seen, half black, half white – but the big “ALARM OFF” button on top of it meant that I had no problem shutting it up. Wait…that was the only button on the thing. How was I meant to use this?

With the alarm silenced, I looked around at the rest of the room. It was quite small – there was room for the bed, a large cupboard and the table upon which the alarm clock rested. That left just enough space for one to get dressed in, but that was it. To one side of me was a door leading through to the tiniest bathroom I’d ever seen. It was about the size of my shower cubicle at home, but somehow, they’d squeezed a whole bathroom into it. The whole place looked very industrial too, the walls were metal and had all sorts of pipes and valves criss-crossing them. It was like being on a ship or a submarine or something. I hoped that wasn’t the case, I’m very much a girl who likes being on land. 

I suppose I ought to introduce myself at this point. My name’s Hiroko Shizuma. I don’t know where I am or how I got here. The only thing I do know is that I have one great passion – racing. In fact, people have called me the Ultimate Racing Driver numerous times in the past. I’ve loved racing since I was little, I was always zooming round my parents’ garden in my little ride-on car. When I was eight, they gave me go-kart lessons, and soon I was winning championships – beating kids twice my age! Since then, I’ve raced in all sorts of different karts, some of the world’s greatest supercars, even a truck. And I am unbeatable! I’m not that remarkable in any other part of my life – my grades are average, just like my looks, and I don’t really have anything else I’m that good at – but racing is the one thing that makes life worth living. I really couldn’t wait to get back in the driving seat, so I decided to get up and-

_“Bom bom bom boooommmm”_

“What the heck was that?” I exclaimed out loud. As I did, part of the ceiling started whirring and coming towards my head. I quickly dived back onto the bed to avoid being hit by it. When I looked up a TV had unfolded from what I previously thought was just a metal plate on the ceiling. And on that TV, what I saw was…

“A bear?” 

And not just any bear, one that was half black and half white, just like that alarm clock. That alone was quite odd, but not as odd as when it started speaking.

_“Now then, please could everybody gather in the assembly room? I don’t like to be kept waiting, so get your skates on.”_

A…talking…teddy bear? There was no way I could make sense of it without going to find out what was happening. I carefully stood up, being careful not to bang my head on the TV, which was now folding back into the ceiling. With a little apprehension, I turned the handle of the door, and found a corridor. It was a narrow space. So narrow that there wouldn’t have been room for anyone to stand next to me, and it was identical in style to the room I had just been in. Everything was metal, with pipes running across almost every inch. There were doors along both sides, with those large wheels on them that you turn to open. Looking at this, I was pretty sure I was on some kind of submarine. But as I reached the end of the corridor, I stepped out into something entirely different. This corridor looked more like something you’d find in an office block. Boring grey carpet. Boring light blue walls. A plastic cabling duct running along one side. And, handily for me, a sign that informed me that the Assembly Room was to my left, along with a canteen. To the right, a library and “U.L.”. I had no idea what U.L. was, but I didn’t have time to investigate. I hurried towards this Assembly Room and pushed the door open.

“Another one?” said a deep voice. It came from someone who looked like they were wearing a policeman’s uniform, the dark blue trousers and overcoat, the black hat with some sort of insignia on. He was also really tall…I mean, most people are taller than I am, but this guy was –

“Can I be of assistance, madam?” 

I jumped, realising that I’d just spent rather too long staring at him. I mumbled an apology, and turned to look at the other people who had arrived here. Quickly counting to myself, I worked out that there were ten of us. I wondered if any of these people knew what was going on, but had no time to ask, as that weird teddy bear voice started up again.

“OK, glad to see we’re all here”

I looked towards where the voice had come from and what I saw was…I’m not sure I can explain it. That teddy bear was walking and talking. It was like some advanced animatronic thing, but it looked more than that. It seemed almost alive.

“What the hell is that?” said a tall, slender girl, “Some type of puppet?”

“I’m not a puppet,” it replied, “although after all this time, it’s a change not to be called a teddy bear. No, I’m Monokuma.”

“Mono-what now?” one boy said, although he was so quiet it almost sounded like his was mumbling to himself.

“Mono-KUMA!” replied the bear, “You know - kuma, like…bear? I’d have thought you of all people would have known that, Mr Ultimate Linguist!”

Ultimate…Linguist? So I’m not the only person here who gets called an Ultimate?

Monokuma continued, “Anyway, I’m sure you’re all wondering why you’re here. And how you got here. And what this place is. And what I am. And what all these people are. And what that chick looks like under her clothes-“ he pointed at a shy-looking girl in the corner, who squealed and looked away.

“Well, I might not be able to answer everything, but I here’s a couple of things. This place is called Fort Zetsubou. It’s a small platform in the middle of the largest ocean on earth. And the reason you’re here is for the killing game.”

“K-killing game?” I stuttered.

“Oh!” exclaimed Monokuma, “This girl’s on fire! Ah shoot, can we say that? I feel like someone already used that…. Yes, it’s a killing game – isn’t that great? All you need to do is off one of your classmates and you’ll get to leave.”

“Well, I can tell you now we won’t be doing that,” said the boy in the policeman’s uniform, “Murder is against the law.”

Monokuma walked over in front of the boy, “It is? Well then, Officer I-Refuse, we’ll just hold a class trial afterwards and find out who did it so they can be punished.”

The boy’s stern manner fell into nervousness rapidly, “A class trial? I-I guess justice is good, but I would hate to have to imprison someone here for murdering”

“Puhuhuhu…who said anything about imprisonment? When I say punish, I mean EXECUTE!”

Everyone’s faces looked shocked at the word, and we all fell silent for a moment. Then, another boy spoke. He had short dark hair and looked like a scientist, with a full length sparkling white lab coat covering his body.

“Yeah, OK, you got us. We’ve been punked, right? Well, it was pretty good, but I need to get back home. Nice to meet you all,” he turned to the door, but was stopped by the bear holding onto his lab coat.

“Not so fast,” Monokuma’s tone became a lot more sinister, “This is your home now. You are all going to remain here for the rest of your lives. Which for most of you, isn’t going to be very long at all. But for the two lucky winners of this killing game, you’ll get to escape and have your freedom. Oh, and on the table over there, you’ll find your student handbooks. Take the one with your name on and read the rules. I’m out.”

With that, he waddled out of the room. The policeman guy followed but came back in almost immediately, saying that he’d vanished. We all picked up our handbooks and looked at the rules displayed on them:

_Game Rules_  
#1: Participants are instructed to live in Fort Zetsubou for the remainder of their lives  
#2: In order to gain your freedom, you must kill another participant without the other participants finding out you have done so.  
#3: After each murder, a small period for investigation will commence. Following that, a class trial will be held.  
#4: If the killer is identified during the class trial, they and they alone will be punished. If they are not identified, they will be given their freedom and the remainder of the participants will be punished.  
#5: The game continues until only two students survive. When there are two left, the game will enter ‘Final Mode’.  
#6: Violence against the headmaster is strictly forbidden and punishable by death.  
#7: Night time is between 10pm and 7am. During this time, the canteen and assembly room are closed, and forcing your way in is forbidden.  
#8: Additional rules may be added at any time. 

I studied these rules intently for a while, before my attention was drawn away by the booming voice of the policeman guy.

“Now, if we are to remain here for some time, it would be good to introduce ourselves.”

The slim girl spoke up, “Yeah well, I dunno about you but I don’t plan to stay here. But yeah, I guess we probably should. I’ll go first cause I’m awesome. My name is Izumi Yukawa and I’m the Ultimate Videographer. I make the best films and videos you’ve ever seen, and I’m sure you’re all familiar with my work”

I silently noted that she didn’t look like a videographer, but then again, what would one look like? She was a tall, thin girl, wearing a long, green jacket. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was tied back in a very tight ponytail, which made her look a little bit angry. But she seemed nice enough, although a bit full of herself.

“Thank you, Miss Yukawa,” said the guy who I assume thought he was in charge. I guess if you look like a policeman, you can take charge in situations like this. “Now, my name is Yu Ryutaro, Ultimate Policeman. You can all rely on me to get us out of this situation safely. And next, please introduce yourself, madam.”

He pointed at me, and I panicked a little – I didn’t think I’d be next!

“Um, I-I’m Hiroko Shizuma. My talent is the Ultimate Racing Driver. I- “

“Wow, a racing driver!” interrupted the guy in the lab coat, “You mean like Formula One? That’s pretty amazing”

“I haven’t raced in Formula One, but I’ve driven lots of things like it.”

“I still think that’s amazing, I’d love to do that. Anyway, my name is Kazuki Ito, and I’m the Ultimate Chemist. Not the kind of chemist that you get medicine from, I do experiments with chemicals. And yes, I have accidentally exploded some,” he laughed.

A moment of silence, before the next person along realised it was his turn to speak. He was a very athletic looking boy, dressed in a khaki T-shirt and dark cargo pants with various clips on. He kept moving his head to the side to shake his straw-coloured hair from his left eye, which was a little distracting.

“Oh, um…My name is Hitoshi Minamino. I’m the Ultimate Climber,” he spoke very quickly, presumably hoping the attention would shift away from him as abruptly as it had fallen on him. Luckily for him, it did, as a stocky blonde girl spoke. Her combination of a white t-shirt with red cardigan and knee-length shorts made her stand out, as did her accent.

“Ah yes, arigato Minamino-san. My name is Lina Hulsmann. I am originally from Germany, but I’m the Ultimate Tourist, le tourist ultime. I travel the world to see different sights and cultures, and I love to take photos,” she patted a small pocket camera attached to a strap hanging across her shoulder.

Another moment of silence. Yu had to step in and prompt the next introduction.

“And yourself, Sir?” he looked at a very strange looking man. He was stick thin, and incredibly tall – much more than 6 feet. He was also dressed head to toe in a form-fitting black outfit. Combined with his long black hair, which was tied into a braid on one side, he would almost disappear completely in the dark, only his face contrasting with his clothes.

“Ah yes, me,” he said in a voice that really creeped me out, “Me, me, me...what about me? My name would be a good place to start. My name is Naoki Takano. Everyone else has also revealed their talents so I should too. My talent is the Ultimate Contortionist. I bet they are wondering what that is, I should tell them. I am able to fit my entire body into a cube as small as 60cm on each side. That will definitely amaze them.”

He wasn’t wrong. I found it almost unbelievable that someone as tall as him could get into a place so small, but I guess that’s what contortionists do. Still, I got a weird vibe from this guy. I hoped I didn’t have to be around him too much. 

Yu pointed to the girl standing next to him. She was tiny, and her long blonde hair almost reached the ground. She was wearing a rather adorable dress, pink frills and bows. Her face made her look as though she was about 10, like someone put a child amongst the rest of us teenagers.

“Shit!” she squeaked, shattering the illusion that had been built up in my mind. She continued in a light, nervous voice, “I-I’m sorry, I was just…Um, sorry. My name is Mami Kodama and I’m the Ultimate Tap Dancer. Um, thank you.”

That left two people still to introduce themselves. The first to speak was a boy wearing a smart black suit over a white shirt. His dark hair was neatly presented, just like the rest of his attire. He spoke so quietly, we had to really concentrate on what he was saying.

“My name is Taki Torisawa. I’m the Ultimate Linguist. I study languages and how people talk, and I, myself, am fluent in 6 different languages.”

Yu spoke again, “Thank you, Mr Torisawa. And finally, this young lady. Who are you, madam?”

He guided our attention to a girl dressed in a green school uniform. She wore glasses and had waist-length bleach-blonde hair, and stared at us for an uncomfortable amount of time. 

“I…I don’t know,” she said, finally.

Yu smiled at her, “It’s OK if you aren’t an Ultimate. Just knowing your name is all the we need for now.”

“No,” replied the girl, “you don’t get it. I don’t know who I am. I don’t know my name or my talent or why I’m here or anything.

She began to cry. Instantly, I felt the need to help, and I ran over to put my arm around her.

“It’s OK,” I comforted her, “We’ve all got so much we don’t know too. And I’m sure we’ll all remember soon. It’s probably some sort of shock that’s temporarily blocked things from our mind. But for now, we can’t go around calling you ‘I don’t know’ or ‘Mystery Girl’ or anything like that. So how about we pick a name for you?”

She looked up at me, and spoke through a sniffle, “Pick...a name?”

“Yeah,” I replied, “I think we should call you…Ayako.”

“Ayako?”

“Yes, it was the name of my best friend in middle school. I know that anyone called Ayako is a wonderful person. So, it’s settled.”

And with everyone introduced, we stood around talking for a good time more. Trying to see if any of us knew how we got here, or whether any of us had heard of a place called Fort Zetsubou. But none of us had any idea what was going on. And certainly, none of us would have any intention of killing…right?

**Part 2 – Daily Life**

As the next few days passed, we all got to know each other slightly better. I spent most of my time talking to Kazuki, the chemist guy, and Mami, the adorable dancer girl. Often the three of us would sit around in the canteen, talking about our lives and our talents. It helped take our minds off this so-called ‘game’ we’d been placed in. Everyone also gathered in the canteen for breakfast and dinner, as our Ultimate Tourist, Lina would cook up a meal from a different culture every day.

And it was soon after we’d finished an exceptionally tasty Eastern European dish that we heard from Monokuma again. A chime sounded, and from a monitor in the canteen, we saw the two-tone bear.

_“Ahem. This is an announcement. Please would everybody gather in the corridor outside the bedrooms. Thank you.”_

Several people groaned, not wanting to move so soon after stuffing their faces full of food. Slowly, we all made our way out of the canteen and to the bedroom corridor, where Monokuma was stood waiting. With ten of us standing, there was very little room to move. I’m lucky that I wasn’t near the back, or else I wouldn’t have been able to see what was going on.

“Oh good. You’re all here. Now I’ve noticed a small problem in that NONE OF YOU ARE DEAD YET!! But I must take some responsibility. I haven’t given you a motive, and not enough things to forcefully put into each others’ bodies. So, ladies and gentlemen of the fi- “

He stopped himself from saying anything further, but continued like it hadn’t happened.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your first motive!”

Motive? What on earth?

“Now,” continued Monokuma, “Inside each of your rooms, you will no longer find your Monokuma Alarm Clock showing the current time. Instead, it will be counting down 24 hours from now. You can stop this countdown by killing someone. At the end of that 24-hour period, someone important to you will be dead. Who, you ask? Their identity is written inside the envelope in front of your alarm clock. Go on, take a look.”

I awkwardly shuffled past Naoki to get into my room. Sure enough, the alarm clock was flashing “23:59”. I sat on my bed and picked up the envelope, feeling rather sceptical that anyone would be allowed to get away with anything like this. It had to be an elaborate prank or something. That scepticism meant that I opened the envelope expecting to chuck it straight in the bin. I wouldn’t let-

“Huh?” I gasped. On the card inside was written one name. Just a given name, but I immediately knew who it referred to.

**_Ryu_ **

Ryu was my sort-of boyfriend. OK, he was my boyfriend, but as my parents wanted me to concentrate on my racing, they stopped me from dating. Because of this, Ryu and I were a secret – no-one knew, did they? We were always exceptionally careful to ensure that nobody saw us together. Did someone see us? Did he tell whoever is behind this?

I felt anger rise up inside. How dare someone invade my privacy like that! And to say they were going to kill him. That’s…that’s awful. I’m going to give that stupid bear a piece of my mind.

I stormed out of my room ready to launch a tirade at Monokuma, but it seems that I wasn’t the only one. The corridor quickly filled up with angry shouting and people waving cards, whilst Monokuma stood in silence, ignoring everything that came his way. Getting no response, people soon stopped talking, realising it was probably futile. Once silence fell, the bear spoke again.

“Are we all done?”

Kazuki pushed past me, mumbling an apology, and spoke with a hint of fear.

“You’re going to...kill these people?”

“After 24 hours is up, they’ll be dead,” replied Monokuma, “Of course you could murder someone.”

“N-no, I wouldn’t…Look, this has gone too far now. Let us go.”

Monokuma laughed.

“Go? Where to? We’re surrounded by water. Even if you could swim, there isn’t anywhere to swim to.”

I swear I heard Kazuki choking back a tear.

“Well even if there’s no land near us, we could at least swim to a ship or something.”

“You sure about that, science guy?” Monokuma spoke as though he knew something we didn’t. I know we all wanted to ask more, but he quickly changed the subject – “Now, please follow me to the corridor outside the library. I have a present for you.”

A present? Curiosity got the better of me, so I followed him to the library. I’d only been down this end a couple of times – I’m not much of a reader – but I knew that there was the library and the mysterious U.L. door. As we arrived, Monokuma was stood waiting.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Ultimates’ Lab!”

Ah! So that was what U.L. stood for. The door opened, and we all went inside. It was an absolutely huge room, with various bits of equipment all over and-

“Is that a simulator?” I shrieked loudly, and immediately looked embarrassed. But it seems I was not alone, each of the people had gone to their own section of the room and the mood in the room had brightened significantly.

“That’s right,” Monokuma replied, “In fact, each area of this room has a highly-equipped lab for you to be able to make the most of your talents.”

“Wait, what the heck is this?” came a voice from the other side of the room. It belonged to Kazuki. A few of us rushed over to find out what he’d found.

“What’s up, Kazuki?” I asked

“Oh, Hiroko,” he responded, glancing towards me before looking back at the bottles he was holding. “My lab is really well-equipped, but everything here is really harmful. There’s no basic chemicals for checking pH or anything like that. It’s all poisonous chemicals. Stuff that could kill you instantly”

“But of course,” came the high-pitched voice we’d all come to hate. Monokuma was suddenly stood next to us, “This is a killing game after all. And we do like to make it easy for you.”

“We aren’t going to kill anyone,” Hitoshi piped up, after silently watching the conversation, “This is dangerous. You can’t just let people touch these, they could kill us all instantly.”

“Hmm…” Monokuma pondered loudly, “I suppose that having you all die would be a bit of an anti-climax. Maybe I could lock them away for safekeeping. There is a lock on the chemical cupboards, so I’ll give our esteemed chemist the key to keep them safe. Bee-arr-bee, as you kids love to say.”

He spun around on the spot before bouncing out of the room. I was tempted to see where he went, but a loud noise diverted my attention.

“Ow, motherfucker!”

I turned around to see Mami sprawled on the floor, looking slightly embarrassed. The rest of the group came over to help her to her feet, with several people asking simultaneously if she was OK. Izumi was the first to notice what Mami had tripped on, and immediately spoke up:

“Hey, climbing dude! Watch where you leave your stuff!”

The entire group immediately turned to look at Hitoshi, who was stood behind us all. He apologised profusely whilst picking up some ropes that had spread from his lab area to Mami’s. 

“Oh my, I leave you alone for five seconds and already you’re trying to tie up the jailbait,” Monokuma let us know he was back in his own inimitable style. We all glared at him.

“No, no, don’t stop on my account. I just came to give Mr Ito the key to the chemical cupboard. I want to protect my innocence, of course.”

He chucked the key towards Kazuki, who caught it and immediately locked the cupboard.

The group spent another hour or so exploring our lab areas. I don’t know what everyone else’s was like but mine was top notch. The simulator giving me the chance to virtually race a whole bunch of different things. It was almost like the real thing! Eventually, though, we all returned to our bedrooms. I laid on my bed worrying about Ryu – wondering if I would ever see him again. After what seemed like hours of my mind racing with anxiety, I fell asleep.

I awoke the next morning, surprisingly refreshed given what we had been told the night before. I looked over at my alarm clock – it flashed “12:45”, meaning it must be about 7.30. Oh no, breakfast! I was running late so I quickly got up and got dressed, not wanting to miss another of Lina’s incredible breakfasts. I think she said it would be Scottish-style porridge today and I don’t think I’ve ever had that. I ran down the bedroom corridor and into the ma-

“Whoa!”

I slammed straight into someone. Ignoring the mild pain that had suddenly shot into my shoulder, I looked over at the person I’d collided with. I immediately recognised his slightly-gelled dark hair and white coat. He helped me back to my feet and I apologised right away.

“Kazuki, I’m sorry!”

“It’s OK, Hiroko”

“I was just in such a hurry to get to breakfast that I didn’t…”

“I was on my way to get breakfast too, but I stopped off at the lab on my way in to check on something. Anyway, after you.”

He extended his arm, ushering me forward. I decided not to run any more, as the pain in my shoulder was intensifying, and I didn’t want to risk hurting it more. I decided not to run any more. Being extra careful, I walked more slowly than usual towards the canteen. Hitoshi came out of the canteen and towards us mumbling about never getting any peace and quiet. I knew it was noisy at breakfast time, but when I opened the door, I was greeted with a sight I didn’t expect.

“I KNOW YOU’VE GOT IT, BITCH!”

“I DON’T HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT!”

Stood in the middle of the canteen having a heated argument were Lina and Izumi. The videographer was using her extra height to intimidate the smaller girl, who looked terrified but determined not to be beaten.

“YOU TOOK MY CAMERA FROM MY LAB AREA FOR YOUR OWN PATHETIC NEEDS. THAT PIECE OF SHIT YOU CARRY AROUND NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOUR STUPID SELFIES?”

“I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT MI CAMARA IS A FIN- “

She was cut off by Yu forcing himself in between them, arms spread wide to break up the fight.

“THAT’S ENOUGH,” his voice boomed, and the room fell silent. He continued in a much quieter voice, “Now, Miss Hulsmann, what is going on?”

“Izumi says I’ve stolen her video camera, but SHE’S WRONG,” Lina raised her voice at the end to make sure Izumi got the picture. Yu slowly moved her away from Izumi, before turning around and addressing the videographer.

“And Miss Yukawa, what reason do you have to suspect her?”

Izumi closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them again to respond.

“She- she…uh…” Izumi took another deep breath.

“In your own time, Miss Yukawa. We will get this issue sorted.”

But instead of talking, Izumi fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Something wasn’t right, and I instinctively ran over, kneeled on the floor and grabbed hold of her.  
“Izumi? Are you OK? What’s happened?”

She looked up at me vacantly, and drew breath as if to speak. But what came out of her mouth was not words, but blood. Incredible amounts of blood. It covered the side of my face, and dripped down onto the shoulder of my racing suit. Stunned, I could do nothing but ask her over and over if she was OK. Again and again I asked her. She didn’t reply. Seconds later, I felt the Ultimate Videographer go limp. I let go of her, and she fell forwards onto me.

“Holy shit!” screamed Mami.

And then silence.

All of us stared at the scene that had unfolded without saying a word. No-one dared break the silence until…

_“Bing bong! A body has been discovered! You’ll be given some time to investigate the murder, and then it’s class trial time”_

**Part 3 – Deadly Life**

She…died in front of me.

I saw the exact moment the life left her eyes.

“Hiroko?”

The moment I felt her muscles tense for a fraction of a second before going limp.

“Hiroko?”

The moment her lifeless body fell forward on to me.

“Hiroko?”

And I did nothing to help.

“Hiroko?”

Nothing.

“Hiroko?”

Huh?

“Hiroko!”

A loud voice transported me right back into the room. At once I suddenly became aware of everything. The noise in the room. The faint smell of food. The stronger metallic scent of fresh blood dripping off my face. The body collapsed onto my thighs. 

“Oh my God,” I whispered, “Oh my God. Someone….”

A hand moved Izumi off me, and then gently took my hand and helped me stand. It belonged to Kazuki. He spoke gently to me.

“Hiroko…come over here and sit down.”

Sit down? This wasn’t about me needing to sit down, Izumi was-

“SOMEONE HELP HER!” a scream emanated from my mouth, but it didn’t sound like my own voice.

“Hiroko, she’s…” Kazuki trailed off, not wanting to say the word.

“HELP HER FOR GOD’S SAKE!” 

“No, Hiroko….” The Ultimate Chemist paused to choose his words. In the end, he could find no way of making it easy. No euphemism to save me from the harsh reality. No word that could make the situation better.

“SOMEONE HAS TO HELP HER NOW! PLEASE!”

“She…she’s dead, Hiroko.”

“I know! Isn’t it amazing? One of you lot did it!” Monokuma waddled into the canteen, completely unfazed by what had happened, “Now, I’d like to present to you…The Monokuma File!”

“This isn’t helping. People are in shock. The bear makes it worse, I should ask him to go. Please leave, Monokuma.” Naoki spoke up, saying what we were all thinking.

“Huh? How ungrateful! I go to all this trouble to prepare… Well, have a read anyway. It might help you find the murderer.” Monokuma threw the file onto the ground in front of Izumi - Izumi’s body - and left, muttering under his breath. The shock of Izumi’s sudden death was one thing, but the horror that hit us when we heard Monokuma say the word ‘murderer’ was something else. Was it really murder? Did one of us kill her? The horror sank in – no, not horror…this feeling I had was something else. I felt despair.

By this time, Kazuki had forced me onto a chair, and handed me some tissue to clean the blood off my face.

“You should go and have a shower and a rest,” he said, “I can take care of this part.”

I knew he was right, but I felt a duty to Izumi to make sure that I did everything possible to find out what happened to her.

“In a bit. I want to find out who…” I swallowed, barely able to get the word out, “…who killed her. Let me have a look at the file thing.”

Understanding why I wanted to help, Kazuki reached down and picked up the Monokuma file, opening it and placing it onto my legs. I read through.

_Monokuma File #1_  
Victim: Izumi Yukawa (Ultimate Videographer)  
Height: 5’11”  
Weight: 103lbs  
Chest: 36”  
Blood type: B  
The victim is Izumi Yukawa.  
Time of death was exactly 7.46am.  
The cause of death was poisoning. No signs of any other wounds were on the body. 

I jerked back.

“Poisoning? So, someone did…”

“Seems so,” replied Kazuki sullenly, “But how? I made sure that the chemicals were locked away the moment I had the key.”

“You don’t know that it came from your lab,” I reassured him, but he lowered his gaze in shame. Determined to help, I stood up, still a bit unsteady. 

“Hiroko, you’re shaking,” Kazuki sat me down again, “Look, you sit there and chat to people and see if they noticed anything. I’ll take a look around here and in my lab and maybe I’ll find something that can help us find the…”

Had he finished that sentence, confirming that someone amongst us was a killer, I don’t think I’d have held myself together. It was probably shock keeping me from being a tearful mess, and I hoped it would remain long enough for me to talk to people. I knew how important it was to try and find out everything we could – if we couldn’t get it right at the class trial, we’d be joining Izumi.

Kazuki shot me a forced smile, and turned towards Izumi, sighing loudly. He stepped towards Lina, who was stood frozen in the middle of the room, and gently placed an arm on her shoulder, before saying something to her which I couldn’t hear. Without any response, she trudged unsteadily towards me and sat on a chair opposite. We both sat in silence for a minute or two, unable to make eye contact, before the blonde-haired girl declared emotionlessly:

“Kazuki says I should tell you what I know.”

“Um…yeah, please,” I responded.

“What do you want to know?” I’m sure Lina didn’t mean for that to sound as demanding as it did, but I felt myself becoming defensive as a result.

“Did you do it?” I snapped, “Did you kill her?”

Lina’s hand flew up to her chest as she sat back in her chair.

“Of course not!” she retorted. I understood the offence she had taken, I had just rudely accused her of murder, but I didn’t know how else to address that subject.

“I’m sorry, Lina. I just…,” I took a moment to compose myself before continuing, “Why don’t you tell me what happened this morning?”

Lina relaxed a little in her chair, and looked towards the ceiling while she thought about what had happened.

“I came out of mein Zimmer – my room, sorry – at about 7am this morning. I met Mami who asked if she could help me with breakfast, which was fine. So we went into the canteen and started making it. About 20 minutes later, Hitoshi came in by himself and sat down at the table right next to the counter where we were cooking. A couple of minutes after that, Naoki and Izumi came in. Breakfast was ready after that, and I’m pretty sure Hitoshi grabbed the first bowl, because he was closest. Then I went to clean up the stuff I’d used, so I don’t really know who came in when, but when I turned around again, everyone was there except for Kazuki and you.”

“And what about this argument?” I prompted.

“I don’t really know,” she responded, “I was about to sit down to eat when Izumi pushed me away from the counter and started shouting at me, accusing me of stealing her video camera. I haven’t a clue where she got that idea from, mujer loca. And I guess you know what happened after that.”

“Why did she think it was stolen?” interjected a voice. Lina and I looked up to see Ayako leaning over the table. She continued, “I’m sorry for interrupting, but I saw Izumi cleaning her camera this morning.”

“You did?” I queried her statement with a tone of surprise, although I didn’t feel she was lying.

“Yeah, it must have been about 7ish? She was in the lab on her own when I went in. I hoped I might find a clue to who I am but…” she looked down at the table and trailed off.

“Thanks for that, Ayako,” I tried to smile at her, but I couldn’t quite do so, “And thanks, Lina, too. We’ll find out who did this, OK?”

Both girls stood up and I was again alone. Feeling slightly steadier now, I decided I’d go and help Kazuki. He was stood in front of the canteen’s rubbish bin holding something, and his face said that it was something he wished he hadn’t found.

“What have you got?” I inquired. Kazuki frowned as he turned over the object in his hand.

“I think it’s a bottle of something from my lab area. I can’t work out what though.”

He held the bottle up in front of my face. It certainly looked like the ones from his lab area, but it was heavily scratched, meaning that the writing was completely unreadable. We both knew it almost certainly had contained whatever poisoned Izumi.

“Hmm,” wondered Kazuki, “Maybe…”

The chemist unscrewed the lid of the bottle and brought it up to his face.

“Kazuki, no!” I exclaimed, thinking he was about to drink the remains. Fortunately, he just sniffed at it a couple of times, before he gave a startled look. 

“Don’t worry, Hiroko,” he reassured, “It won’t get me by breathing it in. I’m fine, honestly. How about you go and rest now? I think we’ve got everything in here, and you look…well, you look like you need a shower.”

Although it had only been about 10 minutes, I’d completely forgotten half my face was covered in blood. I nodded to Kazuki, and proceeded to walk out of the canteen, and towards the bedroom corridor. As I arrived at my door, something caught my eye a little further down the passage, outside the door to Lina’s room. Crouching down in front of it, I could see almost immediately what it was – a video camera. Was this the one Izumi claimed that Lina had stolen? And why was it outside Lina’s room?

Leaving the camera where it was, I entered my room. Without any delay, I unzipped my racing suit and went into the bathroom to shower. I sighed heavily and stared at the floor, the water turning a rich orange as it mixed with the dried blood. And that’s the moment it all caught up with me. Without warning, I felt my eyes become hot as tears welled their way up. I blinked a couple of times, and breathed shallowly, before giving in and crying harder than I’d ever cried before. Everything came together in my head – not knowing why I was here, seeing Izumi die, worrying about Ryu, realising that I couldn’t escape. Each new thought fuelled the tears further, until no more thoughts came, and those tears sustained themselves.

I don’t know how long I was in the shower for, but by the time I was finished and dressed, I felt a little better. I needed to rest, but any hopes of relaxation were quickly dashed as the sound of Monokuma came screeching through the monitor.

_“Ding ding ding, kiddoes! It’s class trial time! Please gather in the bedroom corridor.”_

Nervously, I opened my door, and joined the others in the hallway. Kazuki looked over after hearing the sound of my door shutting, and flashed a smile that quickly gave way to a look of concern. Navigating himself around Taki and Naoki, he came over to talk.

“You’ve been crying,” he noted, before putting an arm around my shoulder, “We’ll get through this.”

I squirmed a little, and moved myself away from his arm.

“Please… I’ll start crying again,” I mumbled. That was something I did not want to do right now. I’m Hiroko Shizuma, Ultimate Racing Driver. I don’t cry – at least not in front of other people – and I wasn’t going to again now.

“Now,” announced Monokuma, “Please enter into the class trial room.”

At the end of the bedroom corridor, the wall pulled away to reveal a new door. Despite the extreme fear we felt, the ten of us went through and found ourselves in a very strange looking circular room. The wooden panelling lining the walls from floor to ceiling reminded me of the sort of courtrooms you see on TV, and it contrasted with the black and white checkerboard flooring. In the centre of the room were 10 stands, arranged in a circular formation, while Monokuma sat on what appeared to be a throne towards the back. It was quite clear that there was one stand for each of us, and we filtered around to take our places.

**Part 4 – Class Trial**

“Now then,” began Monokuma, “I’ll begin with a brief explanation of the class trial. During the trial, you’ll present your arguments for whodunnit. If you guess the culprit correctly, they will face punishment. If not, I’ll punish everyone besides the culprit, and they will be given their freedom. And yes, it was one of you lot. Everyone always asks that the first time.”

I was determined to make sure that whoever did this wouldn’t get away with it. I didn’t want them to be punished, but I had to do whatever I could to unmask the person that did this. I broke the silence,

“We need to think about who could have done this.”

“Think?” replied Naoki, “Why does she want to think? It was clear to see in front of us. Am I supposed to give a name? I think so. It was definitely Lina, we all saw her arguing. It’s true, we did. That was a helpful contribution.”

“You what?” shouted Lina, incredulous at the accusation, “I mean, bien sûr, I was arguing with her, but I didn’t do anything to her. I mean, I didn’t even steal her proklyatiye camera.”

“Er, that’s not the right use for-” started Taki, but his voice was drowned out by Lina

“I didn’t even go into the lab that morning! Mami was with me from the moment we left our rooms.”

“Maybe you took that camera the night before?” Hitoshi suggested. The night before? That wasn’t right – she told me why.

“No, that’s wrong,” I piped up, and everyone immediately looked at me. “Ayako, you agree, right?”

Ayako stared at me in surprise, before realising what I meant.

“O-Oh, yes. I went into the lab at about 7am trying to see if I could find anything to help me work out who I am. Izumi was in there, cleaning her camera.”

A few gasps came from the room, and a couple of people mumbled to themselves. Yu was next to address everybody.

“But we found it outside your room.”

“Oh come on, garda, if I had taken it, it would be inside my room, not outside. Give me some credit.”

Yu sighed, “You have to admit, the evidence is very much stacked against you. Everyone saw you arguing with her moments before she died. And given her cause of death, it’s only natural to expect suspicion.”

Lina defended herself, “Suspicion? You think I poisoned her? Sore wa chiagau yo. And besides, if I poisoned her, wouldn’t you have found the poison? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Monokuma killed her and made up some story about one of us poisoning her. There wasn’t any poison.”

“That’s not right!” I interjected, “There was poison. Kazuki and I found it in the rubbish bin I the dining room.”

“R-Really….?” Lina began.

“That’s correct,” Kazuki backed me up, “So how do you suppose that got there?”

“I-I…I don’t know,” she stuttered. “So…so there was poison? But it wasn’t me, I couldn’t…I didn’t see anyone do it.”

“Well then,” Hitoshi smirked, “It had to have been you. After all, you were the only one close enough to poison her.”

Kazuki looked as though he was about to say something, but stopped.

“Kazuki?” I asked. My mind filled with intrusive thoughts that he was the culprit. I tried to push them away - I was not going to suspect Kazuki without cause.  
“It’s…it’s just that what Hitoshi said there wasn’t exactly correct.”

Hitoshi looked at Kazuki, puzzled.

“The culprit didn’t necessarily have to be close. Or even in the same room. You see, the bottle we found contained a chemical called Potassium Pentathate. I identified it by its unique smell. It is highly poisonous when you ingest it, yes, but it can be diluted with water, which can delay the effects for up to half an hour.”

So that was what he looked shocked about when we found the bottle.

“It can be delayed? What does this mean? Oh, I see, I’ll say it. So what you are saying is that the poison could have been delivered up to half an hour before she died? I hope that was right,” Naoki pieced the puzzle together for us.

“Y-Yeah,” confirmed Kazuki.

“Oh dear,” came Mami’s voice, quietly, “I imagine only the Ultimate Chemist would know that.”

Kazuki nodded nervously. Surely he didn’t mean to…

“No, I don’t think that’s necessarily true,” I had to come to his defence.

“Fuckit,” squeaked Mami in surprise. “But I don’t think anyone but a chemist would know what Potash Pentha…Potato Peen…that stuff is.”

“You’re right about that,” I replied, “But other people wouldn’t need to. I can’t prove it, but I’m pretty sure that the information about the effects of this chemical was written on the bottle. When we found it, there were some deep scratches all over, and the information on the back was unreadable.”

“Oh,” Mami looked down at her feet dejectedly, “So he might not be…”

“No, that’s wrong!” shouted Hitoshi with uncharacteristic volume. With everyone staring at him, his voice immediately went quieter, “I mean...Kazuki was the only one with access to the cupboard. Monokuma gave him the key, we all saw him lock it. Only he could have got the poison.”

I didn’t want to let Kazuki be accused like this. He had helped me so much during the investigation. I had to stick up for him.

“What if someone stole the key?”

“When would they have got a chance? We all saw him go back to his room last night, and come straight into the breakfast room with you this morning.”

“That’s true…” I started, not knowing where to go next. 

Think, Hiroko, think.

I looked at what we knew for sure. The poison came from Kazuki’s lab area. We all discovered the lab at about 8pm last night. Kazuki locked the cupboard the moment he got the key. 

“I’ve got it!” I remarked, “The culprit must have taken the poison before Monokuma gave Kazuki the key!”

“It’s a good theory,” came the quiet voice belonging to Taki, “but Kazuki was in his lab area the whole time. He would definitely have seen someone taking something.”

I smiled knowingly, “Not necessarily. There was a time when all of us were distracted, isn’t that right, Mami?”

We all looked over at the tiny girl, who was staring off into space, lost in thought.

“Mami?” I asked, slightly louder.

“Wha-SHIT?” she replied. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing those words come from that face.

“You remember what happened to you last night just before Kazuki got the key, don’t you?”

“I do,” she had a pained expression on her face, “But do we really have to bring that up?”

I decided to save her the embarrassment of explaining it, and reminded everyone about how she had tripped on some of Hitoshi’s climbing gear, prompting everybody to rush over. 

“It’s likely that the culprit stole the poison during that time.”

A rush of realisation hit the room, as they deduced that I was right about that. Naoki was first to speak.

“That’s an interesting piece of information but you know the problem with that. I’ll tell them, yes. That puts us back at the start. We don’t know have any idea who it was now.”

A few people mumbled in agreement.

“Actually, it might help us greatly,” revealed Hitoshi, “In fact, it appears we may have been right first time. What better way to poison someone than to spike their breakfast, hey, Lina?”

“Wass?” Lina was so surprised she spoke in her native tongue.

“You put the poison in Izumi’s breakfast, didn’t you?”

“N-no, I…”

“Yes. You poisoned her food and gave it to her knowing that it would kill her.”

“THAT’S WRONG!” an incredibly high-pitched voice drowned out all other sound. I followed it to its source – the mouth of Mami. Given the expression on everyone’s faces, no-one else could quite believe she was capable of making such a loud noise. Mami couldn’t either, as she immediately went red.

“I-I mean…. I helped Lina make breakfast and she doesn’t give it to people. She puts it on the side for people to take as they want.”

“B-but that just means….” Hitoshi trailed off, before going quiet and taking a step back, as if to say he wasn’t going to say anything else.

“She didn’t care who it was then,” Ayako offered unexpectedly.

“But I would have seen her using a bottle,” Mami pleaded. “I watched very closely because I wanted to be able to cook like Lina. It must have been someone else in the canteen.”

If that was the case, it left Hitoshi, Naoki, Ayako and Taki as suspects. 

“Who was sat near Izumi?” asked Yu, “Please answer honestly.”

“Trying to think, where was I?” pondered Naoki. “She may have been on my table, I think. No, I’m sure. She was sat with me, although we weren’t exactly talking to each other.  
Damn, I didn’t need to say that, now they’ll suspect me.”

Could it have been Naoki? I had nothing more. No more evidence that could narrow it down. Surely we didn’t have to guess?

“I think I might be able to help,” said Ayako quietly.

“Huh?” said Naoki.

“I remember seeing Naoki and Izumi at the same table. But Hitoshi was there too, and…”

She sounded as though she didn’t want to say anything more. I remember Hitoshi leaving the canteen as we arrived in, but I didn’t know where he was sat. Yu encouraged her along.

“Well…” Ayako began, “They were all sat together but Hitoshi was right next to the rubbish bin. And I’m pretty sure he was talking to Izumi.”

A few gasps of shock echoed around the class trial room.

“Ah yes, the girl remembered well. She prompted my memory and now I’m sure she’s correct,” Naoki confirmed.

Hitoshi stayed silent. And not his usual silence. This was the silence of someone who did not want to face what was happening. It must have been about a minute of pure silence, before it was broken by Hitoshi in the most unexpected way.

“Shut up.”

“I-I…” stuttered Ayako.

“SHUT! UP!” Hitoshi yelled, completely unlike the person we’d met over the last couple of days, “HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME! ALL I WANTED WAS TO HAVE PEACE AND QUIET! FIRST THAT VIDEO WHORE RUNS HER MOUTH AND NOW YOU TOO! I WISH I COULD TAKE OUT THE LOT OF YOU JUST LIKE HER! SHE DESERVED WHAT I DI-“

He stopped, noticing what he’d said at the same time the rest of us did. ‘She deserved what I did’. That was what he was going to say.

“Mr Minamino,” Yu said firmly, “Please do not say that you murdered her.”

Hitoshi looked down at his feet and said nothing. Yu sighed and looked at me.

“Miss Shizuma, I think you’ve got the best grasp of what happened. Please tell everyone.”

Me? I’ll try then. I began with a deep breath.

“When the Ultimates’ Lab was revealed last night, the culprit saw his chance whilst looking at Kazuki’s lab. Using his own lab’s equipment, he engineered a situation to make Mami trip over. Taking advantage of the distraction, the culprit quickly swiped a bottle of poison. After spending time to scratch off the instructions to mask how long the poison would take from us, he first diluted it so that the poison wouldn’t take effect instantly, giving him time to leave before anything happened. He took this diluted poison it into the breakfast room. Without her noticing, he put the poison into Izumi’s breakfast, quickly disposing of the evidence into the rubbish bin. Then the final part of his plan was put into place. He talked to Izumi, claiming that Lina had stolen her video camera, which prompted Izumi to start a loud argument, during which our culprit left the room. During that argument, the poison activated, killing Izumi in seconds. Isn’t that right…Hitoshi Minamino, the Ultimate Climber?”

Hitoshi didn’t look up.

“Oh boy,” Monokuma sat up in his chair, “Does this mean it’s voting time? Alright kiddiewinks, press the button for who you think did it!”

I looked down at the control panel in front of me, which had lit up with everyone’s names. I didn’t want to condemn anyone to death, yet I had to. I hovered my finger over Hitoshi’s name, before closing my eyes and pressing the screen.

A short period time passed in total silence before Monokuma gleefully celebrated our vote.

“Amazing! You’ve all voted Hitoshi Minamino, the Ultimate Climber, as the blackened. And you’re right!”

“No!” I cried, not wanting any of this to be happening, “Why?”

“Ugh,” Hitoshi sneered, “I did it to save my brother, obviously. You lot aren’t worth anywhere near as much, always talking and shouting. Ever since- “

He stopped momentarily, and his entire demeanour changed. The spiteful glare gave way to tearful eyes, and Hitoshi the murderer became Hitoshi the frightened child.

“Ever since we were young, my brother and I were each other’s respite from the noise at home. We were always going outside into the forest when our parents started arguing, and it was so peaceful. We would just sit out there for hours in silence, pretending that this was our world, and we’d never have to return to the horrible things we had to hear at home. We climbed trees and small cliffs to find the quietest places and just… be. My brother made my life bearable. No matter the cost, I had to save my brother.”

Save his brother? Oh, the motive! Ryu! Needing to know that he was OK, I asked Monokuma.

“Oh, your loved ones?” the bear replied, smirking. “They’re all dead.”

“Dead?” Yu queried, “But you promised that you wouldn’t kill them if a murder happened.”

Monokuma laughed, “Puhuhu, all I said was that they would be dead at the end of the 24 hours. I never said that they weren’t dead at the start of the 24 hours. Now then, I’ve prepared a very special punishment for the Ultimate Climber. IIIIIIT’S PUNISHMENT TIIIIME.”

Before we had a chance to respond, Monokuma pressed a large red button and half the room came away to reveal a large climbing wall. He dragged Hitoshi over towards the bottom of the wall. Suddenly, a most almighty noise began, and a huge machine appeared in the floor. Hitoshi’s eyes widened as he saw it, and immediately started climbing. I was impressed at how agile he was going up the wall, it was as though he had the hands and feet of a gecko or something. As he climbed, the machinery rose up, and we soon got a good view of what appeared to be a giant paper shredder. Rotating cylinders of sharp spikes were chasing Hitoshi up the wall. Higher he went, out of our view temporarily, before the video screens in the trial ground lit up to show us a tired, out-of-breath Ultimate Climber. Although his strength was waning, he kept going until his hand finally grabbed the top of the wall. The relief was immediately evident in the smile that he couldn’t stop spreading across his face. With great difficulty, he hauled his other hand up to the top and was now dangling off the edge, the machinery inches from his feet.

At that moment, Monokuma appeared at the top of the cliff, holding a remote control. He pressed one of the buttons, and the shredder instantly started to descend. Hitoshi looked down, breathing deeply at the respite, before looking up and seeing the black-and-white bear above him. Monokuma extended a paw to help Hitoshi up. The climber reached a hand up to grab it, but before he could, Monokuma pressed another button on the controller. 

The edge of the cliff suddenly tipped up vertically. Hitoshi no longer had any grip and scrabbled desperately to save himself. It was to no avail, he started falling. As he fell, he screamed. It was like nothing I’d ever heard before, such a raw shout of pain and terror. I looked away, I couldn’t watch what was about to happen. The scream became momentarily more intense before it stopped for good. The sound of the machinery was supplemented by a disgusting squelching sound. I put my fingers in my ears. I didn’t want to see or hear another person die.

Minutes passed, before Kazuki took my arm. I resisted a little, not wanting to hear the horrible things going on, but as my hearing returned, all I could hear was silence. None of us could speak or move. Another person had died in front of us all.


	2. Betrayal on the Sea of Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter continues Hiroko Shizuma's story. Still reeling from the deaths of two of their friends, the remaining students have to work together - but is someone planning a murder?

**Part 1 – Daily Life**

I don’t remember going back to my room, but I found myself lying on my bed crying once again.

“Ryu…Izumi…Hitoshi…I’m sorry.”

All these people that I couldn’t save. If only I was more determined to escape, maybe Ryu wouldn’t be dead. If only I’d brought everyone together more, Hitoshi wouldn’t have killed Izumi. If only I hadn’t pressed that button to vote for Hitoshi, maybe he would have been saved. It’s my fault.

As these thoughts whirled around my head, the monitor on the ceiling began to descend, and our captor appeared on screen.

_“Ding dong! This is an announcement. Please could *chhhhkkkk*-“_

The image of Monokuma began to go fuzzy, as though it were coming through on a bad signal.

_“- the assembly ro *chhhhsssss* -“_

The image faded to snow momentarily before returning. But what appeared instead was not the bear. Although quite grainy, I could clearly make out a lake or ocean. A deep voice startled me

_“Residents of Fort Zetsubou, this is the voice of truth. You must listen carefully to what I am about to say. The world as you know it has - *chhhssssssk* - and you are the  - *grrrssssss* - located - *chhhkkksss* - downtown Tokyo. We will come for - *chhsssssss* “_

I couldn’t make any sense of it. The image and voice disappeared to be replaced by Monokuma once again, who sounded rather irate.

_“Assembly room. Now.”_

Did he know what had happened? Did he see what we’d seen? Eager to find out, I slid off my bed, and hastily set out for the Assembly room. Inside, a fired-up Monokuma paced up and down waiting for us. Once all the participants had gathered, he launched into the tirade I had been expecting.

“I don’t know what you all think you saw, but it cannot be allowed. No-one interferes with my killing game, NO-ONE!”

His eyes flashed red as he stabbed a metal-clawed paw into the air.

“Trust me, I will find whichever one of you did it. I will find you and you will be punished. Oh yes. Severely, tremendously, awfully punished! ‘Voice of truth’? You don’t need the truth. You’re all better off not knowing the truth.”

We’re better off not knowing the truth? Although I was afraid to interrupt his enraged monologue, this was important. We needed to know why we were here.

“What do you mean by that? Not knowing the truth? We have a right to kno- ”

He stopped pacing and appeared to calm down, which itself was somewhat unnerving, “Ah, I see your curiosity has been piqued. You want to know the truth, do you?”

A couple of us nodded.

“Then why don’t I just make the truth your next motive? Yes, off one of your friends and I’ll tell you exactly where we are. Oh, and how you got here too.”

“No, that’s unfair!” an unusually confident Taki interjected, “You can’t kidnap us and then not tell us anything about where we are.”

The bear waddled over towards him. Instinctively, Taki retreated a couple of steps.

“Oh. Is that so?” Monokuma stared intensely at the Ultimate Linguist for a few seconds, then spun round on the spot and marched out of the room, joyously declaring, “Well then, it looks like this boy really wants to know. Watch out, he’s going to kill!”

We all turned towards Taki, who stammered to proclaim his innocence.

“I…I – no, that’s not what I- ”

“It’s OK,” Yu reassured, “We know you wouldn’t. None of us would. We’ll find the truth, and we’ll find a way out. It’s my duty as a policeman to ensure no more harm comes to any of you.”

With those encouraging words ringing in our ears, we returned to our rooms, praying that the killing was over.

Two days on, and our hope was rising. We’d not had so much as a cross word between any of us. I spent a lot of my time on the simulator in the Ultimates’ Lab, but I made sure to take the time to be social. I particularly enjoyed talking to Taki, who admitted that he was trying hard to be more confident. I’d definitely seen that in him recently, too. He would strike up conversation with people in the canteen, and his willingness to stand up to Monokuma when he revealed the motive was admirable. I also spent plenty of time with Kazuki. Just being around him was enough to cheer me up, his positivity was that infectious. I owed him a great deal for supporting me after Izumi’s death, and I hoped to be able to repay that.

The morning of the third day, I awoke feeling refreshingly positive. I felt that maybe there was a chance that things would end happily for all of us. I hurried down the corridor, hungry for Lina’s cooking. This morning she’d promised us a full English breakfast, something I’d had before when I was competing in England a couple of years ago. It was quite unlike anything I’d usually eat at home, and there weren’t many places you could find that sort of food in Japan. As I neared the door to the canteen, the smell drifted towards me, and for a short moment, I was taken back to when I was walking to that hotel’s breakfast room the morning of the qualifying race. Such a perfect time. I set a new lap record as well – maybe it was the breakfast!

Inside, I took a plate – the one that looked like it had most on it, of course – and sat down at a table where Yu and Naoki were talking to one another. It seemed as though the policeman was quizzing the contortionist about his talent.

“You just fold yourself up?”

“Ah, he said what most people usually say. I shall tell him that’s not right. No, in fact there is more to it than that. Contortionism is about reducing the space which your body requires.”

Yu looked puzzled, “I just can’t see how you would be able to do that. You’re so tall.”

I had to admit, I was intrigued by this as well, so I suggested Naoki show us himself.

“How about you give us a demonstration? I saw you had plenty of small boxes and things in your lab area.”

Yu nodded enthusiastically, while Naoki stared at the wall, deep in thought.

“They want to see my talent. I suppose I can show them all about the fine art of contortionism. Yes, I accept. But there is one thing I need them to know. Please give me an hour or two to get used to the new equipment, then I shall demonstrate to anyone who wishes to watch.”

“That would be amazing!” exclaimed Yu, before announcing to the room, “Hey everyone! Naoki’s going to give us a demonstration of his talent. Meet in the Ultimates’ Lab in a couple of hours.”

Slightly embarrassed, Naoki finished up his breakfast and headed towards the lab. Once I had eaten as much as I could, I thanked Lina and returned to my room for a quick nap. I had a dream that I was at a racing track that never ended, and I woke up with a severe urge to get behind the wheel again. A great racing driver like me can’t go for long without driving, so I thought I’d put in an hour or so on the simulator.

The corridor was deserted as I made my way towards the Ultimates’ Lab. Eager to burn some virtual rubber, I pushed the door open. It moved a tiny amount but wouldn’t go any further. Through the small gap I could see several objects blocking the way. Was this Naoki’s way to avoid being disturbed? I hoped nothing was wrong.

“Naoki?” I shouted through the small gap in the door.

“Agh!” he shot back with a reply of surprise, followed by a loud bang. Whoops, it seemed that I had distracted him and put him off.

“S-sorry,” I lowered my voice to apologise. I guess he did want to be alone. Well then, if I couldn’t get to my lab area, I’d have to do something else. As it was right next door, I decided to use the library. I’ve already said how I’m not much of a reader, but I thought if I was going to be here for a while, reading might provide a bit of a break. I picked one of the bookcases at random and started scanning through for something that might hold my attention. There was nothing in the first bookcase which caught my eye, so I chose another to look through. As I did, Yu stuck his head round the door.

“Hey, Miss Shizuma? Do you fancy joining us in the canteen?”

“No. Thank you, though,” I declined politely. I thought a little bit of quiet time would be nice, before the main event that was Naoki’s demonstration.

“Not to worry,” Yu shot me an understanding smile as he departed, “I’ll grab you when Mr Takano is ready.”

Looking forward to an hour or so of serenity, I scoured the shelves for something to read. Happily, I found a book about history’s greatest racing drivers. Maybe I’d be one of them soon?

The book engrossed me for longer than I thought, because it seemed like no time at all before Yu put his head round the door and called me. It was time for Naoki’s demonstration. I was pretty pumped to see how small Naoki could make himself, it was almost like magic to me. I put the book down on the table and jumped to my feet. When I came out of the library, everyone was patiently waiting, and I could see Yu pushing against the door. Just like when I tried earlier, it didn’t move.

“That’s odd,” fretted Yu, “Mr Torisawa, please could you assist me with this door?”

Taki slowly stepped forward, and tried pushing it at the same time as Yu, but without any luck. Whilst they stood pondering how to get in, we heard a distressed shout from inside the lab.

“Help!”

It was Naoki. Yu and Taki tried again to push the door open, but it still wouldn’t move.

“Agh!” came Naoki’s shouts from inside. A loud bang startled us, and we grew more apprehensive. Realising that he would need to resort to more forceful measures, Yu used an arm to indicate to us all to stand back, before planting his boot right in the centre of the door with great force. It moved a little. Yu kicked the door several times more, and eventually it opened. Scattered around the door area were boxes full of various items from the lab. I could see one of my helmets in one box, some of Hitoshi’s climbing equipment in another. But one thing I couldn’t see was Naoki.

“He’s not here,” stated Taki, concerned, “We just heard him though…”

A few of us called his name, but had no response. The room was big, but not so big that he wouldn’t have heard us. I felt myself becoming more and more nervous, my breathing becoming shallower, my hands shaking. I just knew something had occurred.

Taki’s voice brought me back to reality, “Um, guys?”

He was stood in front of Naoki’s lab area, where one of the contortionist’s small boxes was lying on the ground. Taki pressed down on one side, and the box wobbled a little. He sprawled across the floor and looked at the base of the box, before standing up again and whispering in Yu’s ear. Yu’s eyes widened.

“U-um,” he began, “Miss Shizuma, Miss Kodama, Miss Hulsmann, Ayako. I think it would be best if you left the room.”

No. Please no. Not again.

“N-no, I’m staying,” I insisted, “I need to know everything is OK. I need to know that Naoki’s alright.”

The other girls nodded in agreement, but nevertheless kept their distance from the black box that had become the focus of everyone in the room. Although there was a latch on the outside of the box, there was no lock, so we didn’t have to break into it. Taki delicately used a thumb to raise the lid of the box ever so slightly, before pushing it open fully.

That’s when Naoki’s body was revealed.

_“Dun dun duuunnnnn. Well, look at that, it’s corpse o’clock! You’ll have a short period of time to investigate and then it’s class trial time!”_

The sound of the body announcement lingered as we tried to make sense of another killing.

“Is…is he really in there?” whimpered Mami. Kazuki looked at her and nodded silently, to which the tap dancer lowered her head and began sobbing quietly.

It had happened again.

 

**Part 2 – Deadly Life**

“Alrighty,” gushed Monokuma as he shuffled into the room, clutching a folder, “Here’s the Monokuma file. I’ll give it to the racing girl, seeing as the rest of you idiots never seem to bother reading it.”

He dumped the file in my hands and sauntered off. How could someone be so carefree after seeing someone murdered? Casting aside my anger for now, I began to read:

_Monokuma File #2_

_Victim: Naoki Takano (Ultimate Contortionist)_  
Height: 6’4”  
Weight: 109lbs  
Chest: 34”  
Blood type: O

_The victim is Naoki Takano._

_The cause of death was impalement of the abdomen. The victim died instantly. The wound measures about 1” in diameter and appears to have been caused by a blunt object. There were similar wounds to the victim’s left thigh and lower leg._

I put the folder down and cradled my head in my hands. How could anyone do something so horrid? And to think it was one of us...

“Are you going to be OK with this one?” Kazuki appeared at my side, and I nodded.

“I’m going to have to be.”

Steeling myself up, I stepped towards the box. What I saw inside was not what I expected. It was just Naoki. I could only see his back – the rest of him was folded tightly underneath him – and there was surprisingly little blood visible. I was joined by Taki, who kneeled next to me.

“It’s just horrible,” he agreed. Taki had been the first to realise what had happened, and I needed to know what he saw.

“How did you know that he was in there?”

Taki grabbed one side of the box and pushed it down. The box lowered and sprang back up.

“There was something underneath the box,” he explained, “I noticed that the box wasn’t evenly on the ground, so I looked underneath and saw something. Then the blood gave it away.”

I knew I’d need to take a closer look at some point, but for now, I decided to try and find clues elsewhere in the lab. Unsure where to start, I scanned the room. I instantly noticed something that was out of place – a red light coming from a video camera in Izumi’s lab area. She was… she was gone, so her equipment shouldn’t have been on. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it was in playback mode, so I pressed play and saw…. the wall. Why was someone watching a video of the wall? Maybe there was something before it? I pressed rewind, and the camera started to reverse the footage for a moment before turning off.

Before I could turn it on again, Taki appeared behind me.

“Oh, that’s one of those new V700 cameras,” he told me, “I use them for recording voice samples. They use an excellent directional microphone, you can block out almost everything but the person you’re recording. And they have a remote control too, which is great when I need to talk to my subject and don’t want it on tape. It’s honestly the best thing I use.”

Seeing Taki so enthusiastic was heart-warming, and I grinned at him. He noticed, and embarrassment rendered him shy once more.

“S-sorry,” he mumbled, “Um, Yu sent me over to ask you to leave the room while we remove Naoki’s body so that we can investigate inside the box. He thought it best if you didn’t see it happening.”

I agreed with him and headed towards the exit, climbing over the piles of junk which had blocked the entrance. As I did so, one box stood out to me. It was on the floor right next to the door, and had a small hole at the bottom. The hole was less than an inch wide, and it didn’t look like a hand hold for carrying. I wondered if it had anything to do with the murder, but I couldn’t see any way in which it could have been connected.

A couple of minutes later, Taki invited me back in. Naoki’s body had indeed been removed, and been laid on the floor, covered up by Kazuki’s lab coat. I could already see blood starting to stain it. I moved over to the box, and took a deep breath before looking inside. There was blood everywhere. It lined the sides of the box, the base and the lid. Inside, what appeared to be a short pole about an inch wide was similarly coated. The pole had pierced through the base of the box and the top part was almost level with where the lid had been. I felt tears come to my eyes as I realised that this was what had killed Naoki. It was so horrible, so brutal, that I refused to believe anyone here had done such a thing.

Unable to look at the box any more, I stood up and returned to the video camera, hoping to see if there were any clues on it. I turned it on.

**_No file._ **

No file? There was definitely a file five minutes ago! Had the camera’s memory been erased? Maybe there was something on it that would have led us to the killer. I stood, deep in thought, for a moment before a crash distracted me.

“Shit!” squealed Mami, who had somehow managed to trip over again. I ran over to help her up, and asked what had happened.

“Um, well,” she stuttered, “I saw someone had put some rope on the lighting rig of my stage. I thought it may have been a clue. But when I went to look closer, I slipped on one of Hitoshi’s clip things.”

She brandished the offending object inches from my face. It was a carabiner clip that climbers use to attach themselves to ropes. I found it rather curious that it was left out on the floor, too, as Hitoshi’s things had been tidied away after he died. Could the killer have used it for something? Or was it just carelessly dropped from the things that were piled up in front of the door?

I spent a little while more looking around the lab for evidence, but found nothing, and it wasn’t long before Monokuma made the trial announcement. Once again, we proceeded into the bedroom corridor, waiting at the entrance to the trial ground. The mood was sombre – not only mourning Naoki, but also dreading acknowledging that there was a murderer amongst us. I didn’t want to do this, but for Naoki’s sake, I had to.

 

**Part 3 – Class Trial**

 

We took our places at the podiums, noting the pictures of our friends who were no longer here. Monokuma introduced the class trial as before, and the stage was set for us to find the culprit. Lina was the first to speak.

“Could we start by thinking about how the culprit managed to block the door from the inside, but with themselves on the outside? All of us were outside the door.”

“Maybe they squeezed through?” suggested Kazuki, “Mami is pretty tiny, she might have squeezed herself through.”

“The fuck?” squealed Mami, “I- I mean, no. I’m not that thin, it wouldn’t… it wasn’t me!”

Taki frowned, and came to Mami’s rescue, “No, I don’t think so either. When I was pushing against the door, it was open less than an inch with stuff right against it. There isn’t any way she could have got through.”

“I wonder,” said Lina, looking up at the ceiling, “maybe Naoki blockaded himself in whilst he was dying?”

“I think that’s wrong,” I refuted, “The Monokuma file is proof of that. It says that Naoki died instantly, so he couldn’t have done that. In any case, I saw inside the box after Naoki’s body was removed and… well, there would have been a trail of blood across the floor.”

“So how was it done?” asked Ayako. I was still trying to come up with suggestions in my mind, but thankfully Kazuki provided us with a decent theory.

“Maybe it was tipped over from outside,” he said, “If you piled everything up to the side of the door and then set it off balance, everything would fall over. “

“Wouldn’t it fall the other way?” inquired Yu.

“Not if you pushed at the bottom. If you did it quickly, whatever was at the bottom would be pushed away from the door, but everything on top would be unbalanced and fall across the door.”

“So it’s likely that the culprit _did_ block the door after killing him,” Taki confirmed, “But there was very little room to push it through the gap, so how did they do that?”

We all faded to silence as we thought over how the culprit was able to push through a gap no larger than an inch. They certainly couldn’t have put their arm through it.

 “Maybe we should come back to that?” Lina suggested, “I think it would be wise for us to clarify how Naoki was killed. I understand that it was the thing in the box, but I don’t get how. _No tiene sentido._ ”

“Yes, I don’t even know what that object was,” Kazuki supported the Ultimate Tourist’s observation, “Where would you even get a pole that short?”

“I may be able to help there,” Yu declared, “I believe it was a tripod from Miss Yukawa’s lab area. It had the camera mount removed, and had been lowered as far down as it could go, and that seems to have been how it was used to…well, you know.”

His body drooped as the reality struck. A moment of silence blanketed the room, before Mami expressed her concerns.

“You’d have to be really strong to push that into the box. Guess that means it wasn’t any of us girls. Or Taki.”

Taki glared at her, whilst Mami giggled. I had to admit, I was stifling a small laugh as well. Kazuki, meanwhile, was not quite so amused.

“Now wait a minute!” he exclaimed, “Just because it’s not easy to push the tripod through the box, doesn’t mean it had to have been a man.”

“He’s right,” Ayako concurred, “If you remember where we all were when we heard it happen, it makes perfect sense.”

“Where we all were? We were stood – ohhhh,” the penny dropped for Kazuki, “We were all outside together. So you’re saying that the culprit had a way to remotely kill him from outside the door?”

A way to remotely kill someone? Could that have been….?

“That’s right,” I asserted, “Mami found something that proves it, didn’t you?”

“I did?” she queried, with wide-eyed amazement at her being useful.

“Yes, you did. The rope that was on your lab area’s lighting rig. I think it was used as a pulley. So rather than the culprit pushing the tripod through the box, they dropped the box onto the tripod.”

“Hold on a second!” interrupted Lina, “Do you really think they would have been able to do that? It would have taken a good few seconds to lift it up high enough.”

“Yes, Naoki could have escaped,” Taki agreed, “We already know that the culprit wasn’t standing near the box, so holding the lid shut would have been impossible.”

A few murmurs of agreement rippled around the room. Could they have kept the lid closed somehow? I created an image of the box in my mind and ran through various ways it could have been closed. Then it hit me.

“I’ve got it! We found one of Hitoshi’s carabiner clips on the floor. If you clipped that through the latch on the box, it would keep it shut _and_ you could attach a rope to it.”

“Wow, Miss Shizuma,” Yu congratulated, “You could make it as a police officer too! That makes a lot of sense.”

“Yeah,” agreed Mami, “I think the culprit probably _did_ do that. You’re really good, Hiroko!”

I blushed a little, not being used to receiving compliments about anything other than racing.

“The thing that I don’t understand,” Kazuki said, scratching his head, “Is how the culprit managed to set off remotely. We would have noticed someone pulling a rope.”

“Maybe some sort of motorised system?” proposed Yu.

“I’m not so sure,” said Taki, dismissing the idea, “Nobody found anything that was used in that way.”

“Hmm,” pondered Ayako, “That is a problem. Maybe they set it up just before we arrived? They could have tied the rope loosely to something so that it slowly came undone.”

Yu nodded enthusiastically.

“That is a good idea. It also leads us straight to the culprit, as there was only one person not with the rest of the group just before it happened. Isn’t that right, Miss Shizuma?”

“Wait, what?” I yelped, “I was in the library! You came and talked to me twice.”

“That’s as may be,” he sneered, “But you don’t have any way to prove you were in there the whole time.”

I panicked, fearing that the group would be about to make a huge mistake. Rapdily, I searched my brain for anything that was there which could prove my innocence, but nothing surfaced.

“I hate to admit it,” Taki spoke carefully, “but you were conspicuous by your absence. Nobody saw you for a couple of hours before it happened.”

Conspicuous by my absence? That phrase turned on a lightbulb in my mind – something else matched that description too.

“It didn’t happen then,” I declared flatly.

“Of course it did, Hiroko,” Kazuki sounded quite patronising as he said that.

“No,” I maintained, “Look at the Monokuma file. There’s no time of death. I think if we knew that, it would lead us right to the culprit. I believe it happened before we arrived.”

“Don’t be silly,” came the belittling reply from Yu, “We _heard_ it happen. We were outside the room when we heard Mr Takano shouting for help. Dead people don’t shout, Miss Shizuma. There’s no way we could have heard that if he was already dead.”

“No, that’s wrong!” I yelled, resulting in 6 extremely puzzled looks.

“Hiroko…are-are you OK?” said Mami, sounding concerned, “You just said we heard a dead person screaming for help.”

“We definitely heard a living person,” I explained, “We just didn’t hear it live. The shout we heard was a recording.”

“ _Un enregistrement?_ ” Lina queried. As she did, I saw a realisation dawn on Taki’s face.

“I think so,” he said, “It was recorded on one of Izumi’s video cameras, that was why Hiroko was looking at one during the investigation, I imagine. I use that particular model for recording voice samples, and they are easily capable of recording and playing back sound at a high volume.”

“That’s as may be, Mr Torisawa,” commented Yu, “But none of us went over to turn off the video camera after we went in. The culprit would easily have been seen doing that. It’s not possible.”

“Actually it is,” disputed Taki, “That model of camera has a remote control. The culprit could easily have started and stopped the sound from outside the room.”

Yu looked dejected. He sighed and threw his hands up, “Well I guess that leaves us nowhere then. Could have been anyone. We’ve got nothing left to go on.”

“Are we going to d-die?” Mami whimpered.

“It doesn’t look good,” said Kazuki blankly, “No-one saw Naoki after he went into the lab to practice. We don’t even know when he was killed.”

Things were bleak. Between Naoki leaving the canteen and us trying to open the door, no-one saw him and – wait, that wasn’t right.

“I think I do,” I said, despite the fact it could point suspicion towards me again, “About an hour or so before we tried to get into the lab, I went in to use my lab area’s simulator. However, I couldn’t get in. I did, however, hear a loud thud. Now I think about it, I’m starting to become more certain that was when the murder took place. The sound we all heard when we arrived was quite similar to what I heard, so the culprit must have recorded it then.”

“Miss Shizuma,” Yu began what I knew would feel like a lecture, “I find it very suspicious that again, you heard this and have no way of supporting it. Besides, if you did witness this murder and it was recorded, we would have heard your shouting when they played it back.”

“Actually, no,” I replied confidently, “Taki told me that the video camera has a directional microphone which- “

I stopped mid-sentence, as I realised what I had just heard.

“Miss Shizuma!” insisted Yu, “If you’re going to try and wriggle out of this, you need to at least try and properly defend yourself. Giving up halfway through a sentence is not the way to do this.”

“It was you,” I said quietly.

“Excuse me?” came the astonished reply.

“I never mentioned that I shouted. The only people who would have known that were me, Naoki and the culprit.”

Yu’s face grew angrier, creating a contrast with the calm way in which he spoke next.

“Miss Shizuma, I had assumed that if you were unable to get in, you would have shouted through the door.”

“No, I don’t believe you. You said that as though you knew it were a fact,” I countered.

“Please, Miss Shizuma, it is a logical assumption that anyone would have made. You were worried for Mr Takano’s wellbeing of course you shouted to make sure he was fine. It’s a good story, but is of course false, because you killed him shortly after.”

With determination, I stuck to my guns, “It was _you_.”

“That is a lie!” he roared, “I did not kill him! You have no proof whatsoever, and nothing to save yourself.”

Was that true? There was one thing I found during the investigation that I couldn’t link into the murder, but if Yu was the culprit…

“I have proof. The box next to the door.” I stared into Yu’s eyes as I said that. The look that stared back at me told me I had it right.

Yu scoffed, “And how, exactly, does that _prove_ I murdered him?”

“Remember Kazuki explained how the door was blocked by the culprit pushing at the bottom of the pile of junk? I believe that the box I found next to the door was originally at the bottom of it. There was a small hole in it - just the size of a policeman’s baton.”

I thumped my podium to emphasise the point. Yu smirked, displeased with my statement, and I could see him gearing up to refute it. I shut my eyes, preparing for the tirade.

“You’re good at this,” he said calmly.

What? I opened my eyes again to find a remorseful-looking Yu smiling with genuine warmth.

“You found the culprit, Miss Shizuma. You truly have a talent there. Perhaps you would like to sum up for the rest of us?”

I couldn’t believe Yu had given in just like that. No, wait – I couldn’t believe that Yu had killed someone. Nonetheless, I owed to it to him and to everyone else to get the case clear before they voted.

“The murder plot arose when Naoki agreed to do a demonstration of his contortionism. When he went to the Ultimates’ Lab to practice, the culprit sprang into action. Waiting for Naoki to climb into the box, the culprit used a carabiner clip to lock the contortionist inside. Then, he went about setting up a death trap. First, he blocked the door to the Lab by piling up anything and everything he could find. Then, using a tripod from Izumi’s lab area, and a rope from Hitoshi’s, the culprit lifted up the box containing Naoki before dropping it from a great height, killing Naoki instantly.

“He then rewound the video camera which had recorded the sound of Naoki’s shouts, and took the remote, ready to play later. As the culprit left, he piled up the junk next to the door, and use a police baton to cause it to fall in front of the door, blocking the way in.

“With Naoki already dead, the final part of the killer’s plan went into action. Calling everyone to the Lab, the killer ensured that everyone was there before remotely playing the video to make everyone think that the murder was happening there and then. After forcing their way in to find the body, the killer stood amongst all of us feigning their shock. That killer was Yu Ryutaro, the Ultimate Policeman.”

I don’t think anyone else in the room could believe that he had killed Naoki. His admission was a genuine shock to us all.

“Wow, it seems like you bastards are ready to vote!” Monokuma exclaimed, reminding us why we were here, “Lock in those votes now!”

Once again, I was faced with the horrifying prospect of picking someone to die. I pressed Yu’s name, silently apologising to him as I did so. A few seconds later, Monokuma announced the result.

“You’ve all voted for Yu Ryutaro. And guess what? You’re right!”

All of us could do nothing but stare at him. Yu shuffled uneasily and gazed at his feet.

“W-why did you...?” wailed Mami.

Still with his head down, Yu began to explain.

“I’m sorry, everyone. I neglected my duty as a policeman. I wanted to escape, to get back to protecting people, because I… I realised that I couldn’t protect everyone here. We’d already lost two people, and I felt completely powerless. It was a selfish need to regain the power of being able to protect those who need it – I had to leave here and find people who I could help.”

I saw emotion overcoming the normally stoic policeman, as he felt reality sink in.

“I guess this is it then. I’m sorry, everyone.”

Suddenly, I realised why he had given in and admitted it when he did. Although he was about to face execution, I needed to let him know that it wasn’t for nothing.

“You wanted to protect us even at the end. You confessed to save all of us. We’re grateful for that.”

The other participants signalled their agreement. Yu may have made the worst mistake anyone could make, but he tried to make up for it by saving us all.

“OK then!” Monokuma interrupted the emotional moment, “It’s Punishment Time! And I’ve prepared a very special punishment for the Ultimate Policeman…”

Yu was suddenly dragged away from us, as one wall of the trial room pulled aside. From the monitors, we could see an aerial view of a huge road intersection. In the centre, stood on a podium, was the Ultimate Policeman, dwarfed by the size of the tarmac surrounding him. A black and white car headed towards him from ahead, and Yu’s policeman’s instinct kicked in as he held up a hand to stop the car. To our disbelief, the car stopped. Another car approached from Yu’s left, and he held up his other hand to the size to stop it. He then beckoned the first car around him, which followed the policeman’s orders. A third car then appeared from the right, again stopped by Yu with one hand, as he directed the second car with another. Then a fourth car, then a fifth, then a sixth.

Cars approached from all sides at speed, with Yu somehow managing to keep up. His body spun round in a fluid motion as he managed vehicles on all sides, but they kept on coming in greater and greater numbers. The cars got faster, and Yu’s movements matched them, but it was not to last. The Ultimate Policeman whirled around at too high a speed and he lost his balance, falling off the podium. A car headed straight for him, and he raised his arms in front of his terrified face to protect himself. A moment later, he peered out from the side of his arm to find the car stopped mere inches away. I could see Yu looking both relieved and confused. That feeling was momentary, though, because the sound of a loud air horn drowned out everything else. A huge truck, with Monokuma at the wheel, plowed through the entire intersection, flattening everything in its path.

That was the end of Yu Ryutaro.


	3. Chapter 3 - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With six remaining students, Monokuma reveals a motive that will send one person to extreme lengths

**Part 1 – Daily Life**

The atmosphere as we walked back to our bedrooms was downbeat. We had thought that the killing was over, that the eight remaining participants would stay strong. In the end, it was not to be. Our friend, Naoki, was murdered by another friend, Yu. I closed the door to my bedroom and fell face-forward onto my bed. How much longer did this have to go on for? I just wanted to go home. To sleep in my own bed, to talk to my friends, to go back to my normal life…

A knock at the door startled me. I opened it carefully, shielding my body with the door as I looked to see who it was. Kazuki stood outside, with an understanding smile. It was forced, but I knew he was doing it to help me feel better.

“Can I come in then?” he asked. I stood back from the door and opened it wider. We sat side by side on my bed in silence for a moment until Kazuki spoke.

“I just wanted to see how you were doing,” he began.

How was I doing? I’ve seen four people I knew get murdered right in front of my eyes. How are you supposed to be doing after that? I sniffled a little, reliving what had happened, before giving in and bursting into tears.

“Hey, it’s OK,” Kazuki reassured me as he pulled me into a hug. I cried into his chest for several minutes, before it felt like I had no more tears to give. I stayed where I was, with the Ultimate Chemist holding me tightly.

“Feel any better?” he asked.

I raised my head up and looked at him. He looked down at me, brushing away a strand of hair that had covered my face. At this point I became very aware that we were mere inches apart. The thought of kissing him came into my mind. It would be so easy, I could just…. No. I’m not doing that. I looked away and forced my body away from his, to which he released his arms. We both stared straight ahead in awkward silence. Had he thought the same thing?

Thankfully, the tension was broken as the TV lowered itself from my ceiling and Monokuma appeared on it.

_“Okey dokey, my expendable darlings. Please gather in the Assembly Room.”_

“We’d better…” I began.

“Uh…yeah…” he replied. Wow, this was awkward.

Without any words, we both left my room and headed down to the Assembly Room. We were first there, but within a few minutes, the other four people had joined us. I almost started to cry again as I noted that there were only six of us left, but I took a deep breath and regained myself. We all stood around, none of us knowing what to say. A few forced smiles were shot towards each other, but each recipient knew that there was only pain behind them.

“So, you bastards wanna know where you are?” Monokuma’s voice cut through the silence.

“We don’t care,” retorted Lina, “We just want to get out. _Nos libertar._ ”

“You’re right in the middle of Tokyo,” Monokuma continued, as though Lina had said something entirely different, “That’s right, the entire country is now underwater!”

I looked up at Kazuki, whose face displayed a mix of shock and disbelief.

“No, he’s lying,” said the chemist, “There’s no way that would happen.”

“Oh really, Doctor Who-Gives-A-Crap? You lot have no idea what has happened.”

I drew breath to defend Kazuki, but the bear’s words stopped me. He was right. Maybe not about the country being flooded, but he was right when he said we have no idea what has happened. I don’t know how I got here. I don’t know how long ago my last memory of outside actually was…

“You look sad, Jenson Butthead. I can’t have that,” Monokuma laughed, before his tone became more serious, “Sad people don’t murder each other.”

He was still expecting the killing game to continue?

“Please, Monokuma,” Taki piped up, “We don’t want any more killings.”

“Well tough tits,” scolded the bear, “It’s time for your next motive! This time, it’s kill or be killed. That’s right, kiddoes, if there’s no murder by tomorrow night, I’m gonna stop the air supply into one of your bedrooms at random so you’ll die in your sleep.”

“Fuck! No!” exclaimed Mami, “I-I’m not going to die. I can’t, I….”

She ran out of the room, fighting back tears. Kazuki went to follow her, but I put an arm across his stomach to stop him.

“I’ll go,” I said calmly. He nodded, and I excused myself.  As I left the room, I saw a small figure heading into the canteen, so I headed in that direction. Approaching the door, I heard the Ultimate Tap Dancer sobbing.

As softly as I could, I called out to her, “Mami? It’s Hiroko. Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine,” she sniffled. I saw her sat at the furthest table, facing away from me with her head in her hands. I slowly walked over and placed my hand on her shoulder.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” she screamed and turned around, holding a knife up to my face.

“Oh my God, Mami, no!” I pleaded, instinctively taking a step back. Mami held the knife in front of me for an uncomfortably long time, then slowly drew it back towards herself.

“What are you doing with that?” I asked. In my mind, I spoke calmly, but I’m fairly sure it didn’t come out that way. Mami took a few deep breaths to try and stop herself from crying.

“I can’t die,” she begged, “If one of you doesn’t kill me, then Monokuma will and I just… I can’t die. So I need to protect myself.”

I understood how she felt. Monokuma’s previous motives had given us the small amount of hope that we’d all survive if none of us killed. This time round, death is guaranteed. If not at the hands of our friends, then by that evil bear.

“Mami…” I started, trying to work out how I could tell her that having a knife is a bad idea when, deep down, I believed she was absolutely right, “I don’t think that’s going to help.”

“I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU THINK!” she yelled, thrusting the knife towards my chest. I dived backwards, landing painfully on a table. Mami got up and stood over me, pointing the knife at my midsection. I couldn’t focus on anything she said to me, my eyes were fixed upon the point of the knife inches from my body. The knife that shook wildly in her nervous hands. The knife that could easily end my life right now.

I vaguely became aware of shouting and saw Kazuki and Lina rushing over. Mami darted back away from them, which gave me the chance to sit up and stop them from doing anything rash.

“Please don’t hurt her,” I said, adrenalin still pumping through my body from coming close to death, “She’s just scared.”

“She just tried to kill you!” Kazuki replied, indignantly.

“She’s terrified that she’s going to die,” I maintained, “Just like the rest of us should be. Mami, I know you’re not going to kill anyone with that but please…”

Mami sat back on a chair, in tears, still clutching the knife.

“I…I need it to stop people killing me,” she sobbed.

“Look,” I tried to sound reassuring, “If you want it for defence, that’s okay, but please stop threatening people who just want to help.”

“Are you mad?” Kazuki interjected angrily, “You think it’s okay for her to walk round with a knife? You’re just asking to-“

“It makes her feel better,” I explained, “And I know Mami. She wouldn’t use it to kill.”

As the conversation continued, I managed to convince Kazuki and Lina that we should let Mami have the knife for self-defence. We were joined by Taki and Ayako soon after, and all came to the understanding that Mami would have the knife to protect herself. Shortly after, Ayako walked Mami back to her room, and the rest of us went our separate ways. I headed back to my own room, happy that I'd made sure that everyone was doing their best to help the Tap Dancer. But I hadn’t managed to convince myself. I was seriously worried for Mami. She was desperate, scared… unpredictable. It really hurt to see the normally cheerful girl become so terrified, and I couldn’t see a way in which any of us would be able to get back to normal. Maybe it’d be better for her if I _did_ k-

Whoa. No. No no no. What was I saying? This wasn’t me, I wouldn’t kill anyone. I have to strike any of those thoughts from my mind. But I couldn’t. The more I tried to stop those thoughts, the harder they came, each trying to pretend to be more reasonable than the last.

‘I’m not going to kill her, but maybe I could just work out a plan just in case.’

‘I’m not going to carry out that plan, but maybe I could get everything I need, just to see what it’s like.’

‘I’m not going to prepare the plan, but maybe I could write that note to invite her to the library, saying that I want to help protect her, just to get it out of my head.’

‘I’m not going to send the note, but maybe I could just take it with me.’

‘OK, I’ve given her the note, but I won’t carry out the plan.’

And before I knew it, my plan to kill Mami Kodama, the Ultimate Tap Dancer, was in motion. I was nervous as hell as I walked towards the library. Was this really me? Was I a killer? I reminded myself that it was for the best. Mami was scared, and it would be best for her.

I placed my hand on the door handle, took a breath and – wait, was that voices coming from inside? My plan would be completely ruined if anyone saw, and I wanted to be sure it would go off as I intended. Quietly, I opened the door a little, and looked inside. I could see Mami, sat at a table. She was pointing her knife at-

Kazuki? What was he doing here? I listened carefully to their conversation, careful not to give myself away.

“Please, Mami. I’m not here to hurt you so jut put it down, please.”

“No! You’re here to kill me! Hiroko said so!” she shrieked.

“Wait…Hiroko said that?”

“Yes, she’s meeting me here to help protect me.”

“That’s strange,” Kazuki stood back a little, “She was meeting me here too.”

I was doing what? I never asked to meet him here. Something was up.

“Oh,” said Mami quietly

“So please,” Kazuki begged calmly, “put down the knife. You can leave it on the table within reach, but I really don’t want to be held at knifepoint the whole time.”

With a sigh, Mami moved the knife away from Kazuki and placed it on the table, with the handle towards her. The chemist sat down next to her, turning the chair to face towards her.

“What do you think Hiroko wants to talk to me about?” asked Kazuki.

“I don’t know, I just got this note,” Mami held up the note I’d written in front of her. Kazuki took it and started reading.

“Hmm,” he pondered, moments later. He handed Mami back the note, but as she went to take it, it slipped out of his grip and fluttered to the ground behind Mami’s chair.

“Sorry,” he apologised. Mami pushed her chair back and bent forward to pick it up.

The next few seconds played out in slow motion for me.

As Mami bent forward, Kazuki’s right hand swiftly grabbed the knife. In one fluid movement, he brought his arm across above Mami’s back and firmly stabbed it into her.

I gasped loudly, revealing my presence.

“What the fuck?!” squealed Mami.

Kazuki looked towards me, his eyes wide.

Mami fell forward onto the floor.

“Hiroko?” Kazuki’s eyes were fixed on me, and I could hear fear in his voice.

I stood frozen in the doorway, looking at the scene that was unfolding.

“This really…hurts,” Mami gasped for breath, “H-help…”

Kazuki stood up and ran towards me. My reflexes kicked in and I started to turn around, but he caught me and pulled me into the library.

“Oh God, H-Hiroko,” he stuttered, “You weren’t supposed to…”

I stared at Mami, who was now lying on the floor in a pool of blood. She was barely moving, and her cries for help were mere breaths. Kazuki grabbed my shoulder and turned me to face him.

“No, don’t…” I pushed him away, suddenly filled with anger, “What have you done?”

“Me?” he raised his voice, before realising that it might attract attention and switching to a whisper, “What have _you_ done? This is _your_ f- No. No, I’m not doing this.”

I glanced down at Mami again. She wasn’t making a sound and was completely motionless.

“You killed her!” I shrieked, “You killed her and now…”

My voice trailed off, beaten back by the tears that were forming in my eyes.

“…now one of us is going to die too. Oh, Kazuki, I…”

“It’s okay, Hiroko,” he said calmly, as I collapsed into his arms, “I’m going to fix this.”

I pulled away from him. Another wave of anger coursed through me.

“Fix this? Are you going to bring her back to life then? She’s _dead,_ Kazuki.”

“No, but… Look, come back to my room and I’ll explain everything.”

Kazuki ushered me out of the library, though I was hesitant to leave Mami lying there alone. I hoped that Kazuki had a good explanation for how to fix this, because I couldn't bear the thought of losing him. We walked across the corridor in silence, before Kazuki unlocked the door and held it open for me to enter. It shut behind him, and he sat down next to me.

"Okay, where to start?" he murmured to himself, before clearing his throat and looking right at me.

"Hiroko, I've been in a killing game before."


End file.
